Crossrail 2

Keith Prince: During your Mayoralty, have you secured Crossrail 2?

The Mayor: During my time as Mayor, the Crossrail 2 team has developed the engineering design for the scheme, supported two independent reviews of the project and further developed the Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) for the scheme. The SOBC was submitted to the Government in 2019 and was declared technically robust, with no further work required.
However, the coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on Transport for London’s (TfL’s) network and finances. TfL’s funding agreement with the Government of 31 October 2020 includes a commitment in relation to Crossrail 2 that TfL “prioritises safeguarding activity and brings an orderly end to consultancy work as soon as possible. The Department for Transport will support such safeguarding activity for this project as required”. The safeguarding activity must be instructed by the Secretary of State and TfL is in discussion with the Department for Transport on the likely timetable for this work.
It is highly likely that Crossrail 2 will still be needed to support London’s growth in the longer term, and we have clearly demonstrated the case for the scheme. However, at this time we are not in a position to confirm when work to seek consent can restart.